Saturday, May 10, 2014: F-M baseball team piles up wins

Leading off today: The Fayetteville-Manlius baseball team has been staying busy -- and on the right side of the final score -- this week.

The Hornets rallied for a run with two outs in the top of the seventh inning Friday to earn a 5-4 victory over Central Square to make it five wins in five days as Central New York enjoyed a rare sustained stretch of decent weather.

Two two-out rally came together when Travis Macrides singled with two outs, stole second and scored on Mitchell Hoalcraft's single.

District attorney investigating: The Onondaga County District Attorney's Office is investigating the case of former Jordan-Elbridge AD Eric Varney, who resigned after the school district found about $10,000 missing from athletic ticket sales, The Post-Standard reported.

School Board President David Gallaro read a statement at Wednesday's board meeting saying that Varney had repaid the missing money and the district considered the case closed, but District Attorney William Fitzpatrick subsequently announced his office was gathering information that could potentially lead to charges.

The district became aware of the missing money on April 24 and Varney made full restitution and resigned April 25, the district said.

The newspaper has not been able to reach Varney, 44, whose annual salary as AD and assistant principal was $98,517.

J-E appointed Mark Schermerhorn as interim athletic director/assistant principal through June 30.

Another gender barrier broken: Freshman Eliza DeMers won her first varsity baseball start Wednesday, allowing two runs over five innings, and Harley-Allendale Columbia defeated South Seneca 17-5.

DeMers allowed four hits and struck out six. She also went 1-for-2 at the plate with two runs scored.

DeMers played on the modified team last spring and moved up to the varsity this year since the Wolves don't field a JV squad.
"She loves baseball and it's fun watching her play the game," coach Peter Mancuso told the Democrat and Chronicle. "It was a no-brainer having her on varsity because she's been playing baseball all her life.

Milestone: Jamesville-DeWitt softball coach Phil DeAugustine picked up his 300th career win Tuesday when the Red Rams defeated Homer 6-1. The Red Rams, ranked seventh in the state in Class A, added three more wins later in the week to raise his total to 303 wins in 17 seasons, during which time J-D has won eight Section 3 championships.

Firing back: Burke Catholic Principal John Dolan called recruiting allegations made against the school's boys basketball team "inaccurate, unfounded and based on layers of third party hearsay" in a letter to parents this week, The Times Herald-Record reported.

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In the letter, Dolan wrote: "Although we feel the investigation and allegations are blatantly biased, and not initiated by the NYSPHSAA, our voluntary Board of Directors take complaints very seriously. Therefore, Burke Catholic will be launching its own internal investigation using an unbiased, third-party. If any improprieties are found we will act accordingly to address them."

The recruiting allegations were made in a report by the law firm Bond, Schoeneck and King, which investigated on behalf of five of Long Island. Middletown superintendent Ken Eastwood initiated the investigation on behalf of five Section 9 school districts.

Texas community reeling: The Texas high school chronicled in the book and movie "Friday Night Lights" confirmed Thursday that a longtime teacher died of a self-inflicted gunshot after being questioned about an alleged improper relationship with a student, the school's fifth past or active staffer to face such accusations in just over a year.

Odessa Permian teacher and girls golf coach Mark Lampman, 47, worked in the school for 17 years. School officials did not detail his alleged relationship with a female student, but called it improper. District spokesman Mike Adkins said school officials learned of the accusation Tuesday and that Lampman resigned after being questioned. School district police are continuing to investigate the student's allegation, he said.

Since spring 2013, five staffers have come under scrutiny for alleged improper relationships with students, The Associated Press reported. Two coaches and an athletic trainer are among the five.

Permian's football program and its community support were the subject of Buzz Bissinger's acclaimed 1990 book, which was made into a movie and inspired a television show of the same name about a fictional town and football program elsewhere in Texas.